Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced on Thursday (5 November) the scheme would be extended through to March next year, and that there would be additional support for the self-employed.

However, Abta said the chancellor’s plans to simply extend the one-size-fits-all scheme would be of limited worth to travel businesses, who must retain staff to complete non-profit or revenue generating tasks such as rebooking clients or processing refunds.

Chief executive Mark Tanzer has renewed the association’s repeated calls for tailored support, urging Sunak and the rest of the government to "step up and support the UK travel industry".

"Other sectors hit hard by the pandemic have received tailored support from the government," said Tanzer. "But travel has been left waiting in spite of clear evidence of the harm that is being done.

"While the extension of furlough may seem positive on the face of it, it needs to be much more flexible for it to make a difference to jobs and businesses in the travel sector – taking into account that staff will have to work on rebookings and refunds but won’t be generating any income.

"Without the flexibility in furlough and tailored support for the sector, travel agents and tour operators face more brutal months ahead with little or no ability to sell holidays but mounting costs and rising redundancies."